The present invention is directed toward a cable connector and more particularly toward a connector which is capable of quickly and securely connecting to a high voltage overhead cable. The connector has uses as a dead end connector, as a take off connector or as splice between two cables.
In dealing with overhead cables and electrical power transmission lines it is frequently desirable to have the ends anchored to a supporting structure. For this purpose, couplings or connectors referred to as “dead end” are often used. One example of a dead end connector can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,686 to De France. While the De France device may work well, it includes a plurality of nuts and bolts that must be manually turned in order to clamp the connector onto the cable. This is labor intensive and slow.
Arrangements have been proposed in the past to include a pair of opposing wedges within a housing to clamp the cable. Such arrangements are described in published International Application No. WO 02/073765 to Tolkko. According to Tolkko, the problem with prior anchor clamps of this type is that the cable slips between the wedges in the direction of pulling, especially before the wedges have moved sufficiently to the final gripping position. Tolkko attempts to solve the problem by adding a stay tightener to the system. The stay tightener is clamped onto the cable just behind the wedges. In this way, should the cable begin to slip in the wedges, the stay tightener pushes on the wedges forcing them to more tightly clamp onto the cable.
While the Tolkko clamp may be an improvement of similar prior devices, it still suffers from a number of deficiencies. As with the De France dead end connector, the stay tightener must be bolted onto the cable after it is inserted into the clamp which increases the time and effort needed to utilize the clamp. Because the stay tightener must be manually attached, a workman must be within arms length of the clamp when it is being attached and cannot connect the same from a remote location. In addition, the use of the stay tightener essentially prevents the Tolkko device from being modified to be used as a cable splice.